March 05, 2013--Southfield developer Walter Cohen said Monday
he hopes to open a boutique hotel in Detroit's former fire department
headquarters near Cobo Center by the January 2015 auto show.

Cohen, of Arco Construction, and his partner, the Aparium
Hotel Group in Chicago, have agreed to buy the former firehouse
headquarters from the city for $1.25 million. Detroit's City Council is
expected to take up the proposed sale as early as today.

Cohen said the plan is to convert the historic firehouse to
about 80 upscale rooms and a Cajun-themed restaurant on the first
floor. He said the plan is to highlight the historic architecture of
the 1929 structure, designed by architect Hans Gehrke.

"We're saving everything on the outside and as much as we can
on the inside," Cohen said.

Cohen's other projects in the city have involved the
renovation of the Park Shelton residential building just north of the
Detroit Institute of Arts.

If the City Council approves a sale, the buyers still need to
have a contract approved by the city's law department. Then the buyers
need to do all the engineering and design work, although Cohen said he
hoped construction could begin by this fall.

The Aparium Hotel Group has been involved in similar projects,
including the Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee and the Hotel Covington
near Cincinnati, both designed for business travelers and upscale
leisure travelers.

Cohen said the firehouse hotel would be managed independently
rather than under the flag of a major operator. A name has yet to be
chosen.